UMD makes cuts to student jobs in Sustainability Office

DARTMOUTH — Thirteen student workers in the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth's Office of Community and Campus Sustainability will be out of a job come Dec. 21 due to a $150,000 budget deficit.

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By ARIEL WITTENBERG

southcoasttoday.com

By ARIEL WITTENBERG

Posted Nov. 17, 2012 at 12:01 AM

By ARIEL WITTENBERG
Posted Nov. 17, 2012 at 12:01 AM

» Social News

DARTMOUTH — Thirteen student workers in the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth's Office of Community and Campus Sustainability will be out of a job come Dec. 21 due to a $150,000 budget deficit.

In a memo sent to sustainability office employees this week, Assistant Provost Matthew Roy wrote that the university discovered "a large and growing budget deficit" after it reviewed the office's books. The review was conducted because the university recently transferred the office from the School of Engineering to the School of Education, Public Policy and Civic Engagement.

"This unfortunate situation leaves us with no choice, but to restructure the sustainability operation and to inform all non-grant funded employees that their employment will be terminated effective 12/21/12," Roy wrote.

Seven of the employees are graduate students and six undergraduates, according to sources with knowledge of the Sustainability Office's budget. All told, the staffing cuts will save the office $60,000, according to the sources.

Two additional graduate students whose work is paid for by grants will be allowed to stay on at the office, as will 40 undergraduates who work in the office as part of the federal work-study program.

Roy wrote there is also the possibility that non-student employees will be terminated as well, but the director and assistant director positions will not be affected.

The staffing cuts will have a significant impact on the office's programs, effectively preventing the office from writing grant proposals, which are typically written by graduate students, sources said. Among the undergraduate positions cut are three peer coordinators, each of whom supervises 15 students from the work-study programming on nine various projects.

The office's Sustainability Almanac will also have to stop production, according to a Nov. 13 email sent to its readers. "Unfortunately, due to budget cuts, we no longer have the capacity to provide this valuable service free of charge," the message read.

The Almanac is a weekly email sent to roughly 3,000 subscribers that aggregates news about environmental issues from around the globe. The email also included a link to a survey asking readers whether they would "be willing to subscribe for an annual fee."

A graduate student who has been working in the Sustainability Office since 2008 said he has been working two jobs in addition to his academic work.

"Working in the office has educational advantages for me, but it was also paying my bills," said Dan Schemer, who is working towards a graduate certificate in sustainable development.

His graduate assistantship will now end in December.

Schemer, who was working 30 hours a week at the Sustainability Office, said he is unsure of where he will work. He is also concerned about the effect the cuts will have on the community, he said.

"When you slash the budget of the Office of Campus and Community Sustainability, you're not sending the right message to the students and to the public," he said.